Day of the Shadow Man
by Joseph Miller
Summary: A new Villain throws eternia into a endless night and even Heman may not be able to save the planet. Please R&R.1


**The Day of the Shadow Men**

**By:** Joseph (_Crimson Rayne_) Miller

Part One

A thunderous explosion broke the quiet in the Royal Palace of Eternia; huge black clouds of smoke came up from the Far East section of the Palace and rolled up toward the heavens. This section of the Palace held the laboratory of Man-At-Arms and it was now almost totally destroyed. Fighting his way out from under a broken table was the Royal Musician Orko; he hovered in the air looking at the mess he made.

"Huh, No," he said, he spin around trying to find the fastest way out if the lab before….

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE SORCERESS?" Man-At-Arms just entered his lab, behind him was his daughter Teela.

"I can explain everything," Orko was thinking fast of an explanation to tell Man-At-Arms anything but the true. "I was…hum…sleep walking and…Hum."

Man-At-Arms roared, "You destroyed my lab, you're not SLEEP WALKING!" He had never been this anger with Orko before. Teela put her hand on her father's shoulder trying to calm him but he would not be calm. "Wait until I get my hands on you, you little creep."

Orko did not wait around; he bolted passed Man-At-Arms and flew out the door.

"Father," Teela said "that explosion may cause concern to the Royal Family, maybe we should go and tell them it was nothing to worry about." She removed her arm from her father and step out of the lab; the smoke was getting to her. "We can deal with this mess some other time."

"I can't believe it," Man-At-Arms was acting like he did not hear her. "My inventions are gone."

Prince Adam, the heir to the throne of Eternia, came running to the lab; behind him were three Royal guards. "What happened?" He asked.

"It was a accident," Teela answered, "Nothing to worry about it."

"An accident named Orko." Man-At-Man flumed. He was deep in the lab trying to clean things up.

"Well, I will leave you two to clean up." Adam turned to the guards, "Tell my parents at there is no cause for alarm."

"What are you going to be doing?" Teela asked Adam.

"I am going to take a walk with Cringer." Adam replied. "It is a nice day out."

"I hope you don't strain something." Teela called after him as he walked away.

"So funny I forgot to laugh." Was Adam come back.

Part Two 

Far from the bright colors of the Royal Palace stood a terrifying structure, created thousands of years ago, Castle Grayskull. The castle loomed over a bottomless abyss and was surrounded by hostel landscape; few souls were brave enough to go with in a few miles of the Castle. There were rumors of devils and other evil monsters that called the castle home. There was nothing far from the true; behind the huge skull face that was engraved into the front of the castle lived a most beautiful woman. For thousands of years she as lived there protecting the castle's many powerful secrets, the woman known though out Eternia as the Sorceress. Her hair was long and white like pure fallen snow, it flowed down around her shoulders like a waterfall; she wore a headpiece that looked like the upper head of a flacon. Her slender figure was covered by a white one-piece and she wore a cape of multi-colored bird feathers.

Deep within the castle she sit on a throne, alone, with her eyes closed lost in thought. Suddenly she had a vision of Eternia covered in an endless night, her eyes opened, she rose from her throne and made way to her magic mirror; it showed her the same vision. Before the Sorceress could do anything else a searing pain detonated in her head, she fell to her knees as the pain grow. Before she lost consciousness one word enter her mind "Shadarus."

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Back at the Royal Palace Man-At-Arms and Teela were still hard at work cleaning the laboratory. Man-At-Arms was able to recover some of is inventions while many others were beyond any repair.

"It will take months to finish this up," said Man-At-Arms. "I never realized now much stuff I had in here." He was busy trying to put strange looking machine back together.

"Maybe we should get help." Teela answered somewhere in the back. "I can go find Ram man or Prince Adam," Teela stopped. "Not Adam; he may break a nail or something."

"Try not to be so hard on Adam."

"The man is helpless!" Teela replied. "He blows off our training sessions and takes naps all day." Teela moves and accidentally kicks a big metal case. "What in are?"

"Bring it over here and lets see." Man-At-Arms said. He made space on table.

Teela drags over the case and with her fathers help she puts it on the table. "This thing is heavy." She said out of breath. "What can weight so much?"

Man-At-Arms opened the metal case and inside he found five sliver canisters, they were labeled UVL. He picked one up. "I don't know what they are."

"You made them right?" Teela asked.

"I made many things over the years," "I do not remember them all." Man-At-Arms went to a computer that took up the entire left wall of the lab. "I will look in my database." He turned the computer on and begin to search. A very long list of data scrolled down the screen until it stopped at "Ultra Violent Light Grenade" and there was a summary listed below. The UVL grenade was built for the protection of the miners at the Mystic Mountains, the mountains are being mined for rare minerals and creatures within the dark caverns were attacking the miners. Man-At-Arm had to develop something to protect the miners and not cause any damage to the minerals, he came up with the UVL grenade, and the bright flashes of light would chase the creatures away.

"I thought the mining of the mountains stopped awhile ago." Said Teela.

"They did," Man-At-Arms replied. "These weapons never past the testing stages."

As the two continued to work Orko was watching them; he entered the lab quietly. He had brought Man-At-Arms a gift and wanted to say he was sorry. He was only being nosy and did not mean to knock over those machines that caused the explosion.

But Orko did not get the chance to say he was sorry because alarms sounded all over the Palace.

"We are being attacked!" Shouted Man-At-Arms as he headed out the lab. Teela was not far behind.

Man-At-Arms and Teela entered the courtyard. The first thing they noticed that is was dark, it was only early afternoon but it looked like nighttime, a immense black cloud moved over the sun. Teela ran toward the throne room where the King and Queen were located, the Royal Guards should be there taking them to safety. Man-At-Arms went a different direction to find Prince Adam. Man-At-Arms made his way into the garden where Adam liked to takes his walks; he hope Adam heard the alarms and was on his way to the Palace. What Man-At-Arms did not know was Adam was not in the garden, he decided to go to the Palace library and so instead of finding the Prince; Man-At-Arms ran into a lot of trouble.

Adam ran out of the library as the alarms sounded. The Palace was in chaos with people running everywhere. Adam, with Cringer, tried in vain to stop someone and find out what was going on but none give him any information.

"Come on Cringer," Adam said. "We need to get out of here." That was easier said then done as Adam was soon mixed in with the mod of people going to the emergency evacuation tunnels that lead to safety under the city.

"Prince Adam!" came a voice from behind. Adam turned to see Ram-Man running up to him. "I found you! Let's get you to safety!" Ram-Man pulled Adam along pushing people out of the way. "Move! I have the Prince Here!"

Several explosions rocked the Palace and parts of the roof came crashing down. The cave in of the roof separated Adam from Ram-Man.

"Prince!" Ram-Man yelled. "Are you aright" He started to look for a way around the cave in but he could not get past the rumble.

"I'm fine," Adam yelled back. "I'll find another way around." The cave in was just what he needed because he wanted to be alone. Another explosion rocked the Palace. Adam turned to Cringer and said, "It's time to do our hero thing."

Adam pulled a sword out from under his vest and held it in the air, "_BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL_," as he said these words a ray of energy pierced the dark cloud and struck the sword, it flowed down the sword and surrounded Adam. There was a flash of light and Adam was gone; in his place stood He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe! He lowered the sword, "_I HAVE THE POWER_!" He-Man aimed the sword at Cringer and a ray of energy shot from the sword and struck the cat; he too was surrounded by the light and transformed into the mighty Battle Cat. He-Man jumped on Battle Cat and the two heroes rode outside.

Man-At-Arms walked slowly in the dark, all around he heard the sounds of battle. He needed to find Adam and with Adam find He-Man. He made his way though the maze of the garden searching and he found something but it was not what he was looking for. Up ahead stood a figure. In the dark Man-At-Arms could not see who or what it was; it just stood there in the way. "Who are you?" Man-At-Arms asked but the figure did not reply. As he gat closer Man-At-Arms was able to get a better look it, the figure was pure black like a shadow. It was a cloud of black smoke in a human shape. Looking at the being Man-At-Arms started to feel very cold and he knew he needed to get out. He raised his arms and fired lasers from his arm gantlets but the laser blast just passed through the being. Man-At-Arms turned to run but there were three more shadow men behind him and before he knew what happened an arm came out from a near hedge and grabbed him. The other shadow men all jumped on him.

He-Man and Battle Cat raced into the courtyard to see Ram-Man and Man-E-Faces trying to hold off a group of, what looked like, men made of black gas. Ram-Man used his powerful legs to lunch himself at the men but he passed right through them and crashed into a wall. He-Man saw at his friends were in trouble, he dismounted Battle Cat and went to one of the many statures that circled the courtyard and he used his astonishing strength to push over the stature and it landed on the shadow men. Black gas creep out from under the stature and disappeared.

"What are these things?" asked Man-E-Faces as he helped Ram-Man up.

"I'll find out," replied He-Man. "I want the two of you…" He-Man did not finish his sentence because _another_ explosion came from the city. He-Man looked in the direction and saw a building collapsing. "The two of you go into the city and help get the people into the tunnels." With no more words said the three heroes separated with Ram-Man and Man-E-Faces going out to the city and He-Man heading back toward the Palace.

He-Man and Battle Cat ran to the very back of the Palace just in time to see the King and Queen going toward a opening to the emergency evacuation tunnels; they were surrounded by guards, Teela and Stratos were in front leading the way.

They did not reach the opening for an army of Shadow men attacked from all sides. The Guards were thrown aside as Stratos opened the entrance to the tunnel; he lowered the King and Queen down as fast as he could. "Teela," he yelled. "Hurry up!"

"No!" Teela yelled back. "I have to hold theses things back."

"I will help," Stratos started forward.

"Get the King and Queen to safety. I will join you as soon as possible." Teela said. Stratos lowered himself down and closed the entrance.

He-Man started to ran toward Teela when a voice sounded in his head, "He-Man you must came to Castle Grayskull." It was the Sorceress!

"But my friends need me." He-man answered her back.

"You will not be able to help them now." She said. "Any attempt will end in failure."

As she spoke He-Man realized how low and weak her voice sounded, there was some thing very wrong going on here. He-Man did the hardest thing he ever done; he turned his back on his friends and raced toward the Castle.

"We're not running away are we?" Battle Cat asked.

"No, Never," He-man replied, " We are headed for Castle Grayskull."

Teela's sword sliced into a Shadow Man but it not effect. She ducked under a punch and came up with a wicked uppercut of her own but it also had no effect on her opponent. Teela tried to leap backward out of the reach of the men but she was surrounded. A punch landed on her and she fell back into the arms of another Shadow man, she bent her knee and kicked the man with all her might, the kick connected! The man released her; she realized they had to become solid beings if they wanted to do any damage. So she wait for the next man to strike and when it did Teela was able move away and hit it before it turn back to gas. She turned and saw a sight she never thought she would see; He-Man was running away!

"He-Man!" she yelled after him but he did not turn around. With Teela distracted the Shadow Men attacked her from behind.

Part Three 

On the other side of the planet, surrounded by flowing lava and an endless night, stood Snake Mountain. The Mountain was tall with many cliffs and sharps rocks; winding around the entire mountain was a terrifying stone snake! Its head rested at the every top, its mouth open drooling lava. Many bloodcurdling things happened in or around the mountain but today it was under attack. A legion of Shadow Men were storming the Mountain, trying to climb it or find away inside.

Standing inside the mouth of the snake stood the Lord of Snake Mountain, the evil tyrant, Skeletor! He was dressed head to toe in black, long robes covered his body as a long black cape flowed behind him, a black hood covering his head almost masked his skeleton face. In his right hand he held a long staff topped with the skull of a ram.

"Skeletor, We are under attack!" Trap Jaw came running up to his master, walking slowly behind him was Evil-Lyn.

Skeletor slapped Trap Jaw across the face. "Idiot, don't you think I know by now." He turned back to watch the attack.

"Are you going to do anything?" Evil-Lyn asked. She stood next to Skeletor; he would not dare hit her.

Skeletor moved to the side, "Be my guest, try something."

Evil-Lyn raised her hands and lighting shot from her fingertips. It strikes a small group of Shadow men and they disappeared but for every one that disappeared four reappeared. "What?"

Skeletor pushed her aside and raised his staff above his head, the ram skull started to glow, he slammed the staff down on the ground and Snake Mountain was surrounded by a force field. "There, that should hold them back for a few moments." He turned to Trap Jaw, "Go find Merman and get the mountain defenses online."

"But I do not think..."Trap Jaw began.

"I do not care what you THINK," Skeletor yelled. "Just do it!" He then faced Evil-Lyn and together they walked down a dark hall. "Find Tri-klops and have him prepare my ship for us." Evil-Lyn left to follow orders. Skeletor found Beast man and told him to summon some gargoyles ready for action. Skeletor knew he could use this to his advance some now; with an idea forming in his head he went back to watch the attack.

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The Sorceress sat, a little slump over, on her throne; She held her head in her hands. He-Man stood off to the side watching her vision of darkness in the magic mirror.

"You say they are the Shadarus?" He asked.

"Yes, a powerful race that once ruled over the dark side of Eternia." She answered.

"Tell me about them." He-Man returned to her side. "Everything you know about them."

The Sorceress began her tale: "Many years ago during the regain of King Romainas, Prince Adam's Great Grandfather, the dark side of Eternia was ruled not by Skeletor but by the race of the Shadarus. This was a cruel race that seemly lived to destroy life but they never cross over to other side of the planet. Until one day a new leader emerged, this man was outsider from the Shadarus and his anger knew no limits. This man had no name but the people of Eternia named him the Dark man. The Dark Man lead attacks under the cover of night against the people, causing much death and destruction. During the day hours the Dark man and his warriors hide underground for fear of the sun and when I learned this fact I used all the powers of Grayskull to trap them underground. I imprisoned forever the soul of the Dark Man in the trees of Black Forest near the Dunes of Doom.

I have not seen or heard anything of the Dark Man or the Shadarus again; that is until today."

"Now did they escape?" He-Man asked. "What do they want?"

"I can not tell now they escaped but I know what the Dark Man wants."

"What is that?"

The Sorceress give a weak smile as she answered, "What everyone wants when they wish to be the master of the universe; the power of Castle Grayskull."

"Why doesn't the Dark Man just attack the Castle and not the rest of the planet?"

"The Dark Man can not enter the Castle and he is not powerful enough to attack as long as I protect it."

"But he attack you mentally this morning," He-Man said. "He has some power."

"That attack was meant to kill me but it did not," the Sorceress stood up. "Proof that he is not powerful enough to go against me. But it will not be long before he reaches his full power." The Sorceress exited the hall and had He-Man follow her. "I do know what must be done to end this madness once and for all."

"And what is that?" He-Man wanted to know.

"Something I did not have the heart to do back then," the Sorceress faced He-Man with anger in her eyes, "destroy the tree that the Dark Mans soul is link to and kill the Dark Man."

"Kill?" He-Man could not believe what he heard. Murder! He-Man never knew the Sorceress wanting to harm anything. "Is there no other way?"

The Sorceress folded her arms across her chest and stared at He-Man, "I thought what I did years ago was enough but something that evil will never rest, never stop until it reaches its goal or perishes," the Sorceress shook her head, "He must perish."

"The Black Forest is hundreds of miles away, I can not make it an a single day." He-Man pointed out. "The Shadarus are everywhere now, it is impossible to make a safe travel anyway."

He-Man and the Sorceress made their way to the deeps of Grayskull to a long corridor lined with many doorways. The Sorceress explained, "These doors lead to certain locations of Eternia," she stopped in front of one and opened it, "This should take you close to the Black Forest." The Sorceress stick out her arm and a small white crystal appeared in her hand. "Take this for it will keep the Shadarus away from you."

He-Man took the crystal and with Battle Cat he stepped through the doorway and he was gone.

Part Four 

Orko do not leave thelaboratory when the Shadow Men attacked, he hade behind a bookcase the whole time. The only thing he saw through the laboratory window was He-Man running from the Palace. Orko was now flying around trying to think of a plan, he needed to get out and find He-Man and Castle Grayskull was the place to start looking. Before he did anything someone entered the laboratory, it was Man-At-Arms and he begin smashing thinks. "Man-At-Arms what is wrong?" Orko yelled over the noise. Man-At-Arms stopped what he was doing and turned to Orko. Orko gasped at what he saw, Man-At-Arms eyes were totally black and a look of pure rage was on his face.

Man-At-Arms jumped trying to grab Orko but he could not reach, "Little Creep." He hissed at Orko and then he started throwing things at the little magic maker.

Orko dodged the projectiles; he had to restrain Man-At-Arms some now. He used a spell to create a net to drop on Man-At-Arms but instead a bucket of water appeared and it tipped over spilling the cold liquid on Man-At-Arms head. "That spell never works." Orko was getting worried.

But the water seemed to have an effect because Man-At-Arms was now shaking violently and he fell to both knees. He spoke in grasps, "Orko…close your eyes." And Man-At-Arms crawled toward the case holding the UVL grenades. He pulled one out, activated it and rolled it away from himself. The grenade went off flooding the room in light as if the sun exploded. Orko covered his eyes but the light was still painful and when he could finally open them he saw Man-At-Arms standing a few feet under him, he was smiling up at Orko. "Are you alright?"

Orko flew down carefully and floated by Man-At-Arms face. He asked, "What happened?"

Man-At-Arms answered, "I don't know. I was looking for Prince Adam and then the next thing I know my head is wet."

"I did that." Orko said.

"I am glad you did because it brought me back to my senses," Man-At-Arms wiped his face, "You always seem to dump water on my head."

"What about the light?"

"The being was in my mind and I could read its thoughts," Man-At-Arms walked to the case, "These beings can not live in the sunlight and my UVL are about as close to sunlight I have."

"I knew what I was doing." Orko said pleased with himself. "Your back so now we need a plan. Right?"

"Do you know where He-Man is?"

"I saw him going to Castle Grayskull."

"Then that is where we are heading." Man-At-Arms opened a big container and put various parts in it like, light bulbs, wires, and small lamps.

"How?" Orko asked, "Those things are everywhere."

"I think I can came up with something to get us there," He handed the case with the UVG in it to Orko and walked to the back of the lab. "I need to get to a Wind Raider." Man-At-Arms put all of his weight against a section of the back wall and it moved inward. "My back door."

"I didn't know that was there." Orko said.

"To tell you the truth I forgot about it too," He looked sad when he added, "I forgot a lot of things in here. If you had not destroyed my lab we would be to deep trouble here."

"We _are_ in deep trouble here." Orko reminded him.

"Not as deep as we could be in."

"You're not mad at me still?" Orko wanted to know.

Man-At-Arms turned around, "I forgive you, but I don't want you in my Lab without permission. O-Kay."

"O-Kay!" Orko was so happy he hugged Man-At-Arms. "Lets go!"

The two went into the hidden passage.

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Stepping out of the portal He-Man found himself near the Blood River, a little too close to Snake Mountain for his liking. Looking to his left he could see the Dunes of Doom, "Lets try to give the Dunes a wide birth Battle Cat."

"I agree." Growled the cat. "The air smell funny here." The cat added.

He-Man mounted the mighty cat and they headed northwest. "The Black Forest is nearby so keep a lookout."

It wasn't long until the two heroes came across a burning wreck. He-Man recognized the wreck to be the Collector, Skeletors Ship! "I wonder what happened?" He-man dismounted Battle Cat, "Stay here while I go look." He walked as close to the wreck as he could. Lying not far from the wreck were Tri-Klops and Evil-Lyn but no Skeletor; He-Man went over to the bodies "Are you two alright?" He-Man pulled them both away from the burning wreck.

Without warning Tri-Klops grabbed He-Man by the throat and begin choking him, at the same time Evil-Lyn put her hands on his chest begin to electrify him. "Die!" they screamed together.

He-Man cried out in pain as he fought off his attackers. He grabbed Evil-Lyn and forced her hands off him, he then kick out at Tri-Klops connecting in his stomach. As Tri-Klops went down He-Man slammed his forehead into Evil-Lyn; head butting her. She landed next to Tri-Klops both unconsciousnes yet again. "I need to find that tree fast." He went back to Battle Cat and remounted him but before he set off he noticed something, in the dark he and Battle Cat were completely surrounded by Shadow Men. Everywhere he looked there were waves of them, thousands of them stood around He-Man but they did not attack. "Why are they just standing there?"

"I don't know." Battle Cat answered.

He-Man understood as he looked at the small white crystal given to him by the Sorceress, he remembered her words, "Take this for it will keep the Shadarus away from you."

"The crystal is holding them back." He-Man said.

------

Flying over Eternia toward Castle Grayskull were Man-At-Arms and Orko. They were in a Wind Raider that was lit up by many light bulbs Man-At-Arms had installed. The aircraft was so bright both its passengers had to wear protective eyewear.

Part Five 

Soon He-Man made his way along the valley of the Lava Rivers, looking down into valley he saw the lava had cooled turning into rock. "Anything that produces any type of heat or light has been taken care off,"

"The Shadow men hate light," Battle Cat said. "Speaking of which they are still around us." The cat added.

He-Man could see the Shadow men around them but just barley because of the all-consuming night. "As long as we have this crystal they will stay away and we will be fine."

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Man-At-Arms and Orko had talked to the Sorceress and learned about the Shadarus and the Dark Man. They were now heading as fast as they could toward the Black Forest in the Wind Raider. Man-At-Mans pushed the aircraft to its limits.

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He-Man finally passed the Lava River to reach the Black Forest. The Forest was a terrifying sight even to the bravest of souls. The colossal, twisted trees loomed in every direction, fading into the night. It was hard to tell where one tree ended and another grew for the branches stretched and intertwined with each other. A hot breeze blew over He-Man and a smell of rioting flesh hit him like a punch. He could hear animals braking and growling and to make matters worse the Shadarus where everywhere held back only by the crystal. With no words spoken He-Man pulled out his sword and started to cut his way through the thick forest; Battle Cat was right behind him.

It seemed like hours He-Man plowed through the forest, slicing his sword side-to-side making his way deeper into the heart. The Shadarus were not able to touch him but it did not stop them from throwing rocks and other projectiles at him. He-Man blocked many with his sword but some of the projectiles found their mark. "Ouch!" He-Man said as a rock bounced off his back. "This is getting old." And with these words He-Man up rooted a massive tree and swung it around him, knocking down many other trees and forcing the Shadarus to retreat to a greater distance. "Strike three, your out." He joked.

He-Man and Battle Cat came out of the Forest into a huge circular clearing. In the center stood the tallest tree He-Man ever saw. He could not see the top for it reached clear into the dark cloud. Many thick vines wrapped themselves around the tree and its branches hung low like arms ready to strike out at attackers. As He-Man neared the tree he saw it was in a trench. The trench was about seven feet deep and eleven feet wide and the trees roots seemed to grow from the walls of the trench with a very thick root growing straight down deep into the ground. At closer inspection He-Man saw there was an opening to a tunnel in the trench near the tree. Before He-Man could go down the trench he heard a lot of loud hissing sounds, he turn to see the Shadarus attack. The crystal flew from his hand when a rock hit it and the Shadarus were all over him. His world became blackness and pain as blow after blow damaged his body, he threw many away but more and more of the Shadarus attacked him. He-Man fell on the ground and the Shadarus kicked him while he was down, He heard Battle Cat roar as the powerful cat was locked in his own fight for life.

He-Man's world lit up as a spotlight shined down on him, the Shadarus ran from the light leaving He-Man alone. He looked as a Wind Raider landed; Man-At-Arms and Orko were soon by his side. The illuminated Wind Raider shown enough light to keep the Shadarus away from the group. "I am glad to see you." He-Man said holding his left arm.

"I like to make an entrance." Man-At-Arms replied.

"It was a good thing we arrived when we did." Added Orko.

He-Man moved to the trench and the hissing sounds started again but this time the Shadarus did not attack because of the light. "I'm going down that opening," he pointed it out to Man-At-Arms, "If I do not come back…"

Man-At-Arms cut him off, "You'll be back. Here, take these." Man-At-Arms handed He-Man the UVL Grenades. "They will help."

"Grenades?" He-Man asked.

"I knew how they work," Orko said, "I'll come with you."

"Orko, It could get dangerous." He-Man did not want any more people hurt.

"No time to argue and no time to waste." Man-At-Arms said. "I have something else that may help." Man-At-Arms gave He-Man a hover board. "Faster this way." He added.

Before He-Man and Orko went under, He-Man asked, "Are you going to be safe?"

"I think you forget why I am called Man-At-Arms." He walked over to Battle Cat and said, "I'm not alone."

He-man went down the opening.

Part Six 

Back at Castle Grayskull the Sorceress waited for the return of He-Man. She sat still on her throne preparing for any attack that came her way; she did not wait long for an attack to happen. The pain she felt earlier came back but this time she was ready for it, she concentrated and the pain faded. A voice sounded in her head, "That was a warning. I will soon be unstoppable."

"I have stopped you before." She answered.

"My dear Sorceress, I will have you begging at my feet soon enough." Laughter followed.

The Sorceress felt the pain come back and it was stronger. She grabbed her head and tried to force the pain away. "Hurry He-Man." She winced in pain.

------

The opening lead to a small pathway under the tree, they came to a deep drop and hit ground hard. They stood up and went on their way; He-Man flew along on the Hover Board with Orko next to him carrying the grenades. They stopped dead in their tracks as a figure blocked the path. The figure was Teela!

"Teela!" He-Man called, "What are you doing here."

Orko was worried because he saw what happen to Man-At-Arms, "Watch out." He told He-Man.

He-Man walked to Teela and was meet by a roundhouse kick to the face. He fell back only to be attacked again by Teela, her fist crashed into his hurt left arm. She targeted the left arm landing savage blows to it as He-Man tried to protect himself. "Stop!" He yelled as she came at him once more. He-Man did not want to hurt her but he had to do something. He graded her arm and pulled her into his own punch; He-Man pulled his punch as much as he dared and the blow only knocked her out, it did not hurt her. "I am sorry." He said as he bent over and kissed her on the cheek. Orko stayed with Teela and give the UVL grenades to He-Man and then He-Man ran down the tunnel with rage in his heart, someone was going to pay for that.

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Up top the Shadarus were getting bolder as they entered the light, the light seemed to cause them pain but it did not stop them. Man-At-Arms was ready for war, he pressed a bottom on the back of his helmet and a visor covered his face. He went to the Wind Raider and pulled out a huge, wicked-looking mini laser cannon. "Battle Cat, you will want to get down and hide your eyes." Man-At-Arms stood with his legs spread at shoulder length, a determined look in his eyes, and the cannon resting in his hands.

"Hello." He called out to the Shadarus and he opened fire with the cannon, it sounded like a thunderclap as white balls of energy came from the cannon blasting the Shadarus backward. The cannon quickly recharged and he walked forward like Eternia's own God of War, a Veteran Warrior, a true Man At Arms.

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He-Man found what he was looking for, the main root of the tree. If he cut the root then the tree would die and so would the Dark Man along with his Shadarus. He-Man raised his sword to deliver the final blow then he heard a voice behind him, "I must say I am surprised you made it this far." He-Man turned around fast and almost crashed into the source of the voice, "But then again you are He-Man; are you not?" He-Man left the ground as the being picked him up and held him at arms length. The being almost looked like the other Shadarus but unlike the others it had facial features; it had very high cheekbones, the noise was just to slits under deep soulless eyes, the thin mouth was lined with sharp black teeth. A white cloud flowed around his head and down its back like hair. Blue energy-like swirls mixed with the black smoke that made up its body and the most noticeable feature was its right hand, it was deformed to where it only had three huge fingers with long claws on each finger.

"I take it you are the Dark Man?" He-Man asked the being.

"Yes. That is the name my people call me." The Dark man threw He-Man away from him but He-Man twisted in the air and landed on his feet, his sword held high. "I would like to have a man like you at my side during my rule of this planet," the Dark Man walked around He-Man, "Together we can rule the universe."

"We can't always have what we want." He-Man replied.

"I knew that would be your answer but I just wanted to ask," He smiled, "Hoping for a surprise." The Dark Man attack He-Man, swirls of black smoke surrounded He-Man. He tried to get away but it encased him suffocating him and draining his power. He-Man swung he sword at the smoke but there was no effect. He-Man dropped his sword and went for the UVL Grenades; he activated two of them and rolled them in different directions, he then activated the last two and rolled away from him.

The explosions rocked the small place and the light was so strong it burned He-Man skin and hurt his eyes. After a few minutes the light faded and the ringing in He-Man hears stopped he rose to his feet and looked around with burry vision he did not see the Dark Man anywhere. He picked up his sword and sliced the main root of the tree, "Nice knowing you." He said dryly. When the root severed it caused a chain reaction, the tree started collapse in on itself, He-Man needed to get out before he became trapped underground.

Topside Man-At-Arms was witnessing an amazing sight, all around him the Shadarus were hissing and thrashing around. They started to break up in front of his eyes, disappearing into gas. Many others ran into the darkness of the forest. Lighting flashed in the sky as the vast, black cloud broke up so Man-At-Arms could see the rising of the morning sun. "Looks like a nice day." He said lowering his cannon.

"It does." Agreed Battle Cat.

Underground He-Man held Teela in his arms as he ran for all his might; Orko was next to him keeping pace. The tree was also breaking up with debris raining down around them. He-Man pushed himself faster as the opening of the tunnel laid ahead, he saw the sunlight shining down into the opening, he unceremoniously threw Teela up through the opening and then he and Orko jumped up after her. They all landed in the glass next to the Wind Raider. The tree uprooted and fell backward; it slammed to the ground with a thunderous crash. Many other trees were crushed under its weight. The Black Forest was nearly destroyed.

Man-At-Arms ran to help them up, "Teela!" He checked on his daughter, "What is she doing here?" He asked.

"She was under a spell of some kind but she is a fighter so she will be fine." He-Man answered. He looked at his surroundings and felt the sun on his skin; it felt great. "It's over."

"Victory." Man-At-Arms said.

"Victory." Everyone answered back.

Part Seven 

All of Eternia was washed in sunlight even the darkness that hung around Castle Grayskull seemed to gone if only for one day.

The Sorceress stood by her throne looking down at Heroes of Eternia. He-Man and the others stood around the throne room, hurting, tired, but in good spirits. Even as they stood repair were already underway at the Royal Place and the surrounding City, there were many injuries but no lives lost.

"Reports from the Place are good but Prince Adam is still missing," Teela reported, "The King wants us back to look for him."

"I sure he is just fine." He-Man said.

"I bet he is hiding in a hole somewhere." Teela answered back.

"With this crisis over I think we can head back." Man-At-Arms said. He had left the Wind Raider outside but it was ready to go. "I'll take Orko and Teela back with me."

"I will be heading back in a minute." He-Man called after his friends. He turned his attention to the Sorceress, "Everything with the Dark Man over?"

The Sorceress smiled when she answered, "Yes, I can not felt his present so Eternia is safe once again thanks to you."

"We some close calls there." He-man said.

"Yes," the Sorceress sat down, "But hope is never gone as long as He-Man lives." Then the Sorceress grew quiet.

"What wrong?" He-Man asked.

"It's Skeletor!" The Sorceress waved to her magic mirror and it showed Skeletor riding on the back of a huge gargoyle, behind him was Beast Man riding a gargoyle of his own and behind him were a half dozen more gargoyles. "He is coming this way!"

He-Man just shook his head, He mounted Battle Cat and said, "Came on old friend, its time to do our hero thing!"

-------

Standing on a mountain over looking Castle Grayskull stood the Dark Man. His body was no longer made of smoke but pale flesh. His hair was now long and jet-black. The blue energy still swirled around his body but beside that he looked the same, same face and same deformed hand. He wore long black pants and an open trench coat, a huge ebony Broad Sword hung on his shoulder. "I am not defeated that easily," He hissed, "I will be back." With those words he disappeared into thin air.

The Dark Man and the Shadarus are creations of Joseph Miller and may NOT be used without permission from Joseph Miller. 2006


End file.
